Key posts
Crowds have to be patient
By Jon Pierik
Crowds are flocking into the MCG, but require patience as security complete the checks they need to do after measures were tightened last week.
There are long queues in some areas, with more than 80,000 fans expected in today.
In the game of the father: How Calsher’s Hawks honour his dear dad
By Jake Niall
Calsher Dear isn’t a footballer with the bullocking style of his father Paul, whose AFL career finished nearly nine years before Calsher was born and who died almost two years before his youngest son debuted for Hawthorn.
Nor does Calsher, a lithe 195-centimetre leaping athlete, own what he termed his father’s “tree trunk” legs and powerful physique.
Calsher Dear will make his return for Hawthorn through the VFL next week.Credit: Hawthorn FC
“Yeah, it’s quite funny. He (his late father) is built exactly like my brother Nate – 188(cm) but weighed 110 kilos, and just had legs the size of tree trunks.”
But if Calsher is a vastly different athlete and footballer to his father, Paul Dear’s impact on his life has been immense, and remains so.
Composed and articulate for a 19-year-old footballer – the words flow freely and are seldom fumbled – Calsher said that remembrance of his father was a source of comfort.
“I thought about him every day. Still do,” said Calsher, when asked if he’d found himself thinking of his late father in last year’s Easter Monday game against the Cats, the first designated as the “Dare to Hope” game for the cause of fighting pancreatic cancer.
The late Paul Dear won a Norm Smith Medal playing for Hawthorn in the 1991 grand final. His son Calsher is now playing for the Hawks.Credit: Wayne Ludbey / Getty Images
“I mean, it’s pretty hard not to, like every avenue, basically, of my life is connected to him in some form.
Star Bulldog dodges worst-case scenario
By Marc McGowan
Star Western Bulldogs forward Sam Darcy has dodged the worst-case scenario but will still miss a significant period after scans confirmed he did not suffer an ACL rupture in Sunday’s landslide win over St Kilda.
Western Bulldogs’ star Sam Darcy chats with his father Luke on Sunday night.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Darcy, who kicked 14 goals in his first five matches of the year to become a Coleman Medal contender, sustained an impaction knee fracture and ligament damage when he hyperextended his left leg in an opening-quarter marking contest against Saint Anthony Caminiti.
Had a horror week of tipping? You’re not alone
By Angus Delaney
It’s early, but by this point in the season, some skilled tipsters have separated themselves from the pack, while other, more forgetful punters are already wallowing in wooden spoon territory.
But round six has been chaotic for tipsters, with many upsets capable of upending your league’s ladder.
Half of the favoured teams have lost games so far this round, based on betting odds from earlier in the week, including some severe upsets.
Melbourne bested Fremantle to earn their first win of the season. Richmond handed Gold Coast their first loss of 2025. Brisbane were steamrolled in the second half by Collingwood and Port Adelaide survived a late scare from Sydney at the SCG.
If you’ve had a horrid week of tipping, it’s likely because of these games.
It’s certainly troubled The Age’s expert tipsters.
Peter Ryan leads the competition, but a bold tip for the Roos over Carlton on Good Friday has his top spot in jeopardy, despite his strong start to the season. It’s understood Ryan shouted: “what the hell was I thinking?” at his TV as the third quarter played out.
Ryan also declared Fremantle absolute certainties before their loss to Melbourne, but rebounded with a strong Sunday to sit on three tips with one game to play.
Senior sports writer Michael Gleeson was the only expert (of 14) to correctly select Collingwood, in a savvy move that could propel him up the ladder.
But Richmond’s surprise win came as a shock to all Age tipsters. Nobody backed the underdog Tigers to overcome Gold Coast. Indeed, only the most dedicated Tigers’ supporters would have put their tipping reputation on the line and trusted their team to win. No doubt they’ll be bragging in the office this week.
At least West Coast proved reliably poor, with all tipsters correctly guessing they’d lose to Essendon – though it was a close thing, Essendon scraping over the line by just two points.
Mitchell: ‘Their best is elite’
By Jon Pierik
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said the challenge is before his team, for the Cats were “elite” when at their best.
“They’re a quality side, I think everyone knows what Geelong are going to produce, their worst is pretty good and their best is elite,” Mitchell said.
Work to do: Sam Mitchell has had much to contemplate after his Hawks were soundly beaten by the Power.Credit: AFL Photos
“They’re a side that if we look at our progression and what we’re trying to achieve, the evidence suggests that work hard, get better, make our way towards where we want to go and there are teams in front of us at the moment.
“Geelong are certainly one of those and Port Adelaide were one, and we couldn’t get that one done, but Geelong is another one and that’s another opportunity for us to see how far we’ve come, and we know we’ve got progress.”
Scott: ‘They have got weapons everywhere’
By Jon Pierik
Hawthorn made a bold selection call, axing an out-of-sorts Jack Ginnivan. Finn Maginness was also demoted, with Jack Scrimshaw and Connor Macdonald returning.
Cats coach Chris Scott has pointed to the weapons the Hawks boast.
“They have got weapons everywhere. The new players that have come in behind the ball, like Battle and Barrass, look to have helped them, but they clearly value their offence, and they are generally a scoring threat,” Scott said.
On the outer: Jack Ginnivan has been axed from the senior side.Credit: AFL Photos
“Last week might have been a little bit of an outlier there early in the game, but even late you can see how they can be a challenge for the opposition when they get the game on their terms.
“Even before they moved their way up the ladder, they had been a good stoppage and contested ball team. Meek is doing a good job in there, Newcombe has been a very good player for a long time. I haven’t even got to the forward half of the ground where they are, obviously, dangerous as well. I think the wraps on them around the competition are well-founded.”
Ginnivan booted four goals in the VFL on Sunday, but may have to wait to return to the senior team.
Welcome to the MCG
By Jon Pierik
Hello, and welcome to today’s coverage of the Easter Monday blockbuster between Hawthorn and Geelong from the MCG.
This has all the feeling of the epic clashes these teams enjoyed from 2008 through to the middle 2010s. Remember the so-called Kennett curse? Perhaps we are back to those grand days …
Here I am: Nick Watson is part of the new wave of Hawks hoping to make a splash against the Cats.Credit: Getty Images
The Hawks had their four-game winning streak snapped by the Power last week, while the Cats kicked off Gather Round with an emphatic win over the Crows.
